Members of a gang from the outskirts of Seville were arrested this Tuesday for the death of a 33-year-old man, shot dead in Chiclana this summer during a marijuana robbery, which in police jargon is called tipping. However, this group was not only dedicated to the theft of narcotics, but planned large robberies, with heavy loot, according to sources close to the investigation. They are in fact involved in the attack on the house of the tonadillera María del Monte in the Sevillian town of Gines in August 2023, and they could also be responsible for the attack on the chalet of Sergio Ramos and Pilar Rubio, that same year, in Bollullos de la Mitación, also in the province of Seville. In both cases the robberies occurred when the houses were occupied by relatives of the owners.
The leader of this group and ringleader of the organization, with the initials JFND, known by the pseudonym Zoleta, is described by these sources as a security freak. When the Guardia Civil agents went to arrest him for the Chiclana crime, he threw a short pistol, loaded and ready to fire, out of the window. He slept with a large black machete hidden between the sofa and the mattress, with the handle visible so he could lift it if necessary, and in his bedroom he also had a sword hidden behind the bedside table, a double-edged dagger, a small ax used to throw it a certain distance and a switchblade.
The arrest of the five subjects implicated in the Chiclana crime, by the crimes against humans and the homicide squad of the Cadiz Civil Guard, was hastened because investigators had learned that the suspects were planning a new coup. In this case they had gone to the home of an elderly person and had shown themselves willing to resort to any type of violence in order to get hold of the keys to open the safe and other valuable objects.
The violent rollover that killed the man in Chiclana this summer netted them a haul of 30 kilos of marijuana buds, ready for sale, according to sources close to the operation. This drug would reach a price on the black market that could fluctuate between 45,000 and 57,000 euros in Spain, although the price would multiply in other European countries.
The case is in the hands of the investigative court number 1 of Chiclana, where those arrested were made available this Thursday. The five detainees are accused of the crimes of murder, membership of a criminal association, illegal possession of weapons and robbery with violence in an inhabited house. The operation remains open and further arrests cannot be ruled out.
The attack on Chiclana occurred at five in the morning on August 8. Seven people entered “with extreme violence” the house, located on the Camino de la Perdiz, in the Pinar de los Franceses area. They were searching for a large quantity of marijuana that they thought was unattended and at a certain moment shots were fired “with at least two weapons”, as reported by the Guardia Civil. One of those shots hit the owner of the house causing his immediate death, in front of his young children and his 19-year-old partner. During the escape, the attackers stole the deceased’s car and took away two large bags containing marijuana.
Investigators then activated Operation Aguileo, which ended with the arrest of those involved three months later. The Guardia Civil collected “numerous evidence” in 15 house searches carried out in Puerto Serrano (Cadiz) and in the Sevillian towns of Guillena, Alcalá del Río, Carmona and the capital Seville.
During the checks, firearms and numerous knives were seized. Also a bulletproof vest, tools for opening vehicles or locks, video surveillance cameras, night vision goggles or a multitude of cell phones, as well as 1.7 kilos of marijuana buds and 365 plants of the same drug.
